Beer: Ratings & Reviews

The beer poured into the glass crystal clear medium amber with a frothy head that emerged slowly and continued to rise to eventually overtop the glass. The head fell just as slowly and left a coating on the way down.

The aroma was deeply malty with a nice bready/biscuit impression and a muted citrus fruitiness and a deep caramel. The aroma had no apparent alcohol.

The flavor was very nice with a strong bready/biscuit component that complemented the smooth maltiness and dark caramel. The malt was well balanced by the hops, but the hop bittering never became overbearing creating an interesting and complex malt/hop character that is well done. The flavor had a slight fruitiness and no apparent alcohol.

The finish was just dry with lasting pleasant bittering lasting long into the aftertaste. The body was full and viscous and even creamy. The only indicator of the alcohol was in the warming effects after consumption. This one was a bit deceptive in that department which led to a very nice complexity.

22 ounce bottle. Winter 03 Release. I'm not sure I have ever seen a barleywine with that much head retention.

I love Stone brews. Stone IPA is one of the greatest beers available and likewise all beers I've tried from them have been way above par. For some reason, this beer disappointed me. I love barely wines (Bigfoot 2004 and Old Numbskull I would recommend) but this one was difficult to drink. It had no specific flavor. Perhaps my expectations were too high. They all can't be winners.

The beer poured a nice amber red color with just a coating of head over the beer. The nose gave me some raisin/fig and even a hint of sugary sweetness ontop of the malty sweetness. The flavor is nicely balanced with sweet caramel and figgy malt and a solid backbone of hop. Those flavors play well together. The beer is thick and highly drinkable for such a big boy. Thanks to SheepNutz for sharing this one with us.

This was brought over by sheepnutz in a 22oz bomber bottle. We had this side-by-side with the 2004 version. Pours a red/copper color with a large head and leaves quite a bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma is very hoppy (pine aroma) with some alcohol being obvious as well - there are some dark malts there too. The flavor is big. The alcohol and hops are strong and it has a very strong malt character. Well-crafted beer. I'd have this again anytime.

22oz. bomber poured into a thistle glass. It pours an orange-red color with two fingers of head. There is just a little lacing. The smell has a bit of malt, but much more of a hop aroma. Tons of hops and a touch of alcohol are present in the nose. The taste has a hardcore maltiness up front, but even after almost 2 years the hops are still representing. Great hop flavor, not too green. The body is pretty thick and smooth. The drinkability is pretty good for such a strong brew. Stone does it again.

The beer after its extrication from the 22-ounce brown bottle sets in the glass a deep burnished copper color on the pour with the head pythonic in size and the texture frothy and a toothsome light tan in color and after its demise the lace forms a thick and sticky sheet to smother the glass. Big sweet malt nose rich in fusel alcohol, caramel and hints of the hop flower, a real treat for the schnozzle. Start is ambrosial, loaded with malt and the top peanut butter thick, and the finish spiteful in its carbonation, the hops prickly in their spicy bite. The aftertaste dry as a bleached desert bone, oh yes, almost forgot the alcohol, quite evident in its bitterness and tummy warming. Ah another great year of Old Guardian got a case aging away, but the chances of it lasting more than a year slight.

Poured into a tulip glass. It is a clear brown with red-orange glints. The head is slight at first, but as it warms and the beer is swirled, it actually produces a fair amount of tan foam. This is a thick beer in the glass.

I get a surprising melon scent off this one with some big sweet malts. My girlfriend describes it as smelling like something sweet baking in the oven. Green hops are big as well. Piney, piney, piney. Little citrus fruit hop scent finds its way out from this one.

Taste is alcoholic warming sweet malts and considerable bittering from the hops. A green hops flavor smothered in dark caramel and buckwheat honey. The bitter and sweet fight for who will last longer on your tongue.

Mouthfeel is wonderfully smooth and viscous with some carbonation keeping it from appearing syrupy. A little alcohol warming here. Perfect!

Despite being so big, it is not tiring. Great drinkability. I still like Bigfoot better, though.

This is a sight to be seen: Dense, lupulin rich head battles for almost a minute with the alcohol that wants to cut it down. In the end, they compromise and settle on an abstract lace atop the pint, but I sense a bitterness in both of them, some plan for revenge.

Measured. An aroma of big, but controlled hops and no alcohol leads into pineapple followed by pine, brown sugar reduction, a God-hating alcoholic dragon breath warmth, and sweet melon coming through on the finish. The Warrior hops are a wonderful go-between of the classic(ally boring) fruitiness of West Coast Cascades, the delicate peppery spiciness of some British hops, and the fight-you-to-the-13th-round retsina of Stone.

Cloying? Perhaps, but only in the sense that so many barleywines from Hardy to Victory are. With no oxidative qualities to back it up, the Stone relies on an impeccably fresh hop presence to balance the malt. This is both sweet and bitter beyond recognition, but the two flavors are so deeply concentrated that they balance, making this dangerously drinkable and paradoxically off-dry.

Despite its thickness -- a body derived clearly from an otherwise stealth alcohol -- and malt intensity, Old Guardian is in no way worty, which is what I love most about this beer. It feels like brew right out of the kettle and tastes like something fully attenuated and matured. The hops and malt linger -- the former with its floral, green, drying tongue, the latter with its tickling caramel sweetness -- and develop together with nuts, nougat, potpourri, and wood in the finish, nothing ever taking center stage.

I think this will age with the best of them. It's hedonistic now, but gives glimpses into the future of softer fruit and sugar, less piney aromatics, and more focused nuttiness on the finish.

Appearance is a rather clear amber with a generous and beautifully laced off-white head, surprisingly big for a 10% beer. The aroma is very hoppy, citrusy but flowery, not so piney. A bit of alcohol is noticeable, especially as it warms where it seems to get a little thinner and more vinous with an almost grapey fruitiness. At cellar temperature, it had a flowery/peachy flavour profile with a creamy maltiness playing around with the big hops, warrior?

Pretty good barley wine, but not great. Good sweetness and malty hoppiness. There's a corky flavor in the back of this that I can't quite pinpoint. A bit cloudy in the glass. When Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is on the shelves, there's no contest, go with the SN!!!

Pours a copper red, light carbonation and a tan rocky head. The aroma is of hops, roasted grains, grassy, caramel and some smokiness. The flavor has a sweet start, very rich and creamy, with a lasting hop bite. The mouthfeel is full bodied; syrupy, slick and oily with a nice presence of effervescence.
As the beer warmed its character improved. Although it is very hoppy, this barleywine was well balanced and a pleasant experience.

Not so thick a pour; off-white head goes up by a finger and subsides slowly to a clingy collar; after a swirl, thin sheets of lace crawl back into the glass, leaving surging walls of carbonation in their wake. Awesome burnt sienna color, a bit hazy; held to light this barelywine stuns the eye with a luxuriant ruby glow, a bursting neon pomegranate... Aromas of burning toffee and medicinal alcohol from a mile away. Enormous bouquet of molten dates and brown sugar; apricot and ginger brandy; hop cones leafy and blooming, rosemary and pine. Nosefeel is velvety in the body and vaporous in the finish. Flavor is at first shockingly sweet, with more dates and golden raisins; extreme caramel sugars and toffee, toffee rampant and oh yeah also butterscotch rum raisin and rum and then the HOPS without an ounce of twang pull towards juniper, pine sap, ginger (?). In no way are these flavors competitive--the balance is astonishing--finally, things wrap up with a sandalwood dryness. Massive, nougaty mouthfeel with alcohol that warms and dries; the hops resiny and coating fairly shellac the mouth; the palate waters. As far as drinkability, let's just say you're going to need some endurance... The thought of pairing this with baclava or a similar insanely sweet, syrupy dessert is boggling. Heroic.

This beer is a medium, coppery brown. It's seems to be the official color of American barleywines actually. We had several classic American examples of barlwines tonight and almost all of them looked like this. There's a good caramel malt to it and a bit of alcohol and grassy hops to support the sweetness.

Poured with little head, produced minimal scattered lacing. Beautiful color: a medium ruby-orange, rusty and scotch-like. The aroma contained powerful hops, some maltiness and alchohol. This was a great tasting barleywine, with moderate malty caramel overtones, well hidden alcohol, with a strong but perfectly balanced resiny hop finish. The mouthfeel was also excellent: thick, smooth and velvety, but not syrupy at all. Solid. Yet another amazing Stone brew, a must try!

The Old Guardian poured a reddish copper color with a beautiful fluffy overpowering head that proclaimed its brilliance throughout the entire session.

The nose was nice. Dark fruits, caramel and a nice hop presense.

Plums, Raisins, Dates, Caramel, Cherries dominated this beer. The flavor was incredible and was so lingering on the palate. As the beer warmed more burnt dark fruits came out and the alcohol content became more alarming. Can't go wrong with Stone!

This is what a barleywine is all about! It poured a deep amber color with almost no head at all. The smell was of plums and alchohol. The taste was pure malty goodness with a touch of hops to ballance it out and just a little bit of plum flavors in there as well. I think this one is a definant improvement over last years version which was much sweeter than this one. Another awesome brew from stone

Sampled this with some trepidation - knowing well Stone's predilection for massive flavor overload, I expected a monstrous assault on my palate. Big flavor, indeed, but I was pleasantly surprised with the beer's relatively easy-going nature, for a barley wine. Massive, slightly syrupy malt - but not overwhelmingly caramel, as is so often the case with the style. Big hops prop up the malt, but don't try to steal the show. High abv is slyly hidden, showing itself more in a peppery burn on the tongue than in the flavor. For me, a little barley wine usually goes a long way, but here the bomber vaporized with little effort.

Mouthfeel: Viscous and heavy in taste and body. Aftertastes linger for eons.

Drinkability: Too rough at this point, IMHO, unless you like a burly barleywine. This sucker needs to guard the cellar for some more time. There are 2 more bottles in the cellar that are more than up for the job. Will get back to you on both of them. Bring on 2004!

Copper-amberish color with a decent low tan head and low carbonation. Hops a bit more citric with a light fruity aroma compared to the '00 version. Tastes more balanced than aged versions. Full bodied and smooth but doesn't burn like aged versions.

OK, I've tried and tried, and there's just no use. I can't find a bad beer from Stone. Sorry I tried, but all of their stuff is great, not that I won't keep trying.

This barley wine, not one of my favorite styles, is no exception to the Stone rule. Though highly ABV'd and full the brew still satisfies in a very nice way. The look is a lovely red-tinged hazy amber with very finely packed head above and tight lacing throughout.

The nose is full of lovely malt and hops come through as well. The flavor is rich and full of malt, sweet and yet not over the edge. A strong spicy sense joins in a also gives a strong warming sense. The feel is full and taste lingers long; not a clean finish but not overtly negative either. Limited drinkability.

Nose is bombarded with dried, smoked cherries, sherry, and more torched fruit. Caramelized mangoes drenched in vaporous pine syrup. Burnt raisins. Oh my! For as much hype as Stone gets from their hops, I gotta say that the malt loads of their brews are every bit as impressive.
A double-edged assault, indeed.

Raids the mouth. Loots and pillages and rapes. Like ten thousand vikings, drunken and horny. Touting massive caramel swords, swinging brandy-dripping battle axes and lighting huge fruit bonfires. Tossing orange rinds, pineapples, mangoes, raisins, and plums into the ceremonial inferno. An inebriated cry goes up around the the stack of smoldering fruit, as its molten discharge of raspberry- and currant-syrup floods the recently conquered streets. The brawn is flaunted unshakably. Cocky as hell. Boasting tanginess, burned fruit and substancial hop wrath; Who's going to stand in its path?
Give up your lands now, and avoid the ensuing carnage. The savage victory is laden with sprucey hop sludge. Warrior indeed!! No analysis is needed. The rubble Old Guardian produces is testiment enough. Another war cry goes up towards Valhalla, as the cognac-infused, sherry alcohol vapors dance above the flames.

The strike is thick and all-consuming. Little time for the reprieve carbonation provides. A blanketing conquest. Unrelenting in its coating invasion.
No time to prepare, or make plans of escape.

Appearance  Extremely thick and cloudy orange-brown in color with a monster head that would not go away. Finally it settled down to a deep film on the body, but this was relentless. The lacing on my glass was beautiful.

Smell  Big, giant hops lead the way for this Barley Wine. The sherry base is present as well, but this one is all about the hop compliment.

Taste  The sherry and hop mixture is amazing. There are also some nice fruity flavors in here such as big cherry, orange, and cranberry, but the quality hops and oak-aged sherry flavors stand out.

Mouthfeel  Dry, dead flat, and extremely refreshing. This is a full-bodied ale that quenches the thirst. There is absolutely no indication of alcohol whatsoever.

Drinkability  They serve this on tap at the beer store that I frequent. I usually suck down a pint while Im buying some pints. Awesome!

First of all I am not a fan of Barley Wine's by any means, but I will still give them a try.The appearance was that of a small sized ivory head with fine-medium sized bubbles that fully dissipated.The body was dense and there was some carbonation observed.The hue was copper and the nose consisted of malt, caramel and some fruitiness.The flavor was very hoppy and sweet tasting with a fore and aftertaste that lingered.It had a tingly and bitey mouthfeel and it was light bodied.The lacing was somewhat fair.

The beer pours a rich tawny amber, topped with a meager ring of head. The head dies out completely about halfway through the glass. Very attractive and potent looking.
Aroma is pretty much all hops. A very resinous bitterness wafts up, with some big malt, and a touch of alcoholic booziness poking through. I'm betting the IBUs on this are way up there. Very floral, with a citric, grapefruity hop aroma. A bit of graininess to the malts, lending an overall coarseness to the aroma, when coupled with the overwhelming hops.
The flavor starts out powerfully malty, which is effortlessly crushed almost instantly by an oily, resinous juggernaut of hops. Gigantic body, with a coarse, lightly carbonated mouthfeel. Rindy citric hops up front, leading into a herbal pine flavor. Some fruitiness is buried beneath the bitterness, but mostly lost in the undertow. Big grapefruity hop finish, with a slick alcoholic warmth going down. Some grainy flavor pokes through in the finish. The beer is mostly an offering to the hop gods.
I think the beer will certainly be better with a few years aging, to let the hops tone down. Any subtlety within the flavor is completely blasted over at this point. Good, but pretty mediocre as far as a barley wine goes. I think drinkability will increase as the flavors tone down, but it's too coarse and rough hewn for me at this time.